Revolutionary Period

A detailed Summary of Revolutionary Period

The American Revolution was a time of change. We no longer wanted to be a part of England's glorious empire, but rather a brand spanking new ideal, and we did not want their king, but most of all, we wanted it done at once. The American Revolution had everything a revolution should. After all, a revolution is "1) an orbital motion around a centralized point, 2) the overthrow of one government and its replacement with another, 3) a sudden and momentous change in the situation," as defined by the dictionary. Literature of the time written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine in his "Crisis" pamphlets, and in Patrick Henry's speeches, expound and explore the reasons for radical changes to come.

There was one central and unifying idea, which united this great country called America to rise up against England. That idea was Liberty! During the Revolution, we rallied around the central cause of liberty and freedom. It is human nature to need liberty, to be free. In the revolution, we fought for liberty, liberty was what we wanted, liberty was frequently denied to us, liberty was everything to us. Nations can be formed in many ways. Geography or climate, ruler or diplomat, cultural expansion o

Obviously, we got rid of the British government and declared independence. We established this new government. The British were oppressive and cruel, and we would no longer stand for it. We would not let their soldiers sleep in our houses. We would not let the King of England tax us without representation. We would not let him trample over our most basic civil liberties. We would not let him take our free people, and use them for his own ends, to try them in an unfair trial for crimes not committed. It became a radical idea that people did not have to remain bound with chains to another ruler, King George. We would have nothing to do with Britain to the point that we tried to change the English language. Even today the spelling of some words in America and Britain differ. Anything British was burned and loathed. From this point in history on, Americans had only to be convinced that an arbitrary ruler, whether parliament or monarchy, was violating their inherent rights, to feel that their rebellion was justified. And justified it was.

Patrick Henry is another man for the rallying people to his cause. His works were spoken, but just as, if not more, effective. He points out the fact that this is a struggle for liberty, and his famous line "Give me Liberty or Give me Death (Henry, 104)," is an extreme example of this the importance of the Freedom. Henry paints the picture of this struggle in black and white, removing all grays. His speech follows such logical lines, that it becomes also impossible to contest anything said within his speech. He does not dodge around this issue of going to war, in fact he presents it as the only option under the circumstances.

Thomas Jefferson wrote this invaluable document, which still today is a basic part of our history and basis of our country. Logically, Jefferson lays out the ground works of why we are justified in hating the king, what has happened to make relations so unbearable. He states, "...all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among theses are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (DOI, 1)." At the time, it was a radical idea to overthrow a government and institute another. This declaration which he composed was the basis for the Constitution, and later the sour

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Approximate Word count = 1566
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History